Jackie Gaughan exhibit to be unveiled in El Cortez

Las Vegas News Bureau

Jackie Gaughan bought the El Cortez in 1963. Over the years, he had stakes in many Las Vegas casinos, but this was his love, his baby. He held onto his majority stake until 2008, selling to his longtime friend and partner Kenny Epstein.

An exhibit honoring the late Las Vegas gambling pioneer Jackie Gaughan is going up in his beloved El Cortez casino.

The display set to be unveiled Tuesday is titled "Jackie Gaughan's Downtown As Seen Through Gaming Memorabilia." It will include casino chips, tokens, dice and other artifacts from nine casinos Gaughan owned or had a stake in.

The exhibit is the first mobile display of the Museum of Gaming History, which is a project of the Casino Chip & Gaming Token Collectors Club.

Gaughan died in March at the age of 93. He once owned much of the downtown casino market but was most closely associated with the El Cortez casino.

He lived in a penthouse apartment there and was known to play poker in the casino almost every day.